Intention is to update this initial post as more official information is provided by LG and/or authorized retailers.

The anticipated public release date is now a mid March* 2017 time frame with a retail price of $299. At this time several online retail outlets are now accepting pre-orders. Although not available for delivery yet... the LG UP970 is now being advertised on by Best Buy (Coming Soon!) as well Frys (Shipping Soon!) .

Audio Format*LPCM
Dolby True HD
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby Digital
DTS
DTS 2.0 + Digital Out
DTS-HD Master Audio
FLAC
AAC
WMA
MPEG 1/2 L2
MP3
*In a joint statement announcing the UP970 on January 05, 2017 at CES, LG and Dolby Laboratories announced that it would also be "compatible with a variety of leading sound formats, including Dolby Atmos. DTS-X is an object-based audio standard designed to compete against Dolby Atmos and we currently do not have any information on if the UP970 will also support DTS-X or if that will be added later through an LG firmware update.

Anticipation grows with the hope that the apps with the LG UP970 will provide the streaming capabilities for Dolby Digital Plus & Dolby Vision which are currently lacking in the apps of the LG's series OLED TV's. If it does it may prove to be a perfect match for OLED owners.

The following excerpt taken from HDTVtest.co.uk - Jan 04, 2017:
... the UP970 will join the OPPO 203... as the most suitable 4K Blu-ray machine for LG OLED owners. Whilst improved over the course of 2016 through firmware upgrades, tone-mapping of HDR10 UHD Blu-rays on LG’s 2016 OLED televisions such as the B6, E6 and G6 remained problematic due to clipped highlight detail from lower peak brightness. It’s hoped that Dolby Vision’s dynamic metadata could help address this issue.

The following excerpt taken from HomeTheaterReview- Jan 11, 2017: The LG UP970 also features additional picture quality technologies that further enhance the viewing experience for consumers. The LG UP970 includes support for 10-bit color and Rec. ITU-R BT. 2020 color gamut, as well as playback of high-efficiency video coding (HEVC). It's also compatible with a variety of leading sound formats, including Dolby True HD, Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio, for a truly cinematic audio and video experience.

However, as of early March, there have been no changes or updates in the leaks / rumors in regards to what streaming capabilities will be included with the initial March release of the UP970 other than Netflix and YouTube. As reported earlier, LG intends to release a feature update via firmware after the initial March rollout. The rumored time frame for the firmware update appears to be mid to late April, but still no word at this time as to what additional apps and/or features will be included with the update and/or if the rumored DTS-X compatibility update will be included.

1. LG is going to have Dolby Vision support where Sony will not.
2. Sony didn't have the Ultra app which is the only reason I had considered the Sony.

Other than the extreme gap between price points, and when discussing players capable of supporting Dolby Vision... I'm expecting the OPPO 203 will also be part of this showdown once the pre-order owners and some professional reviewers have had a chance to give the UP970 a thorough workout.

Granted, at this time there are no Dolby Vision Ultra HD Blu-ray discs on the market. That said, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros and Lionsgate have all indicated they will have releases of the format in 2017, hence the desire for Dolby Vision support. In the meantime, the streaming side of Dolby Vision is more advanced with Netflix, Amazon and VUDU all supporting Dolby Vision HDR.

Is there any advantage of using a LG PLAYER for a LG OLED TV over getting a Sony, Samsung, Oppo player?? I'm still worried about the judder when playing HDR deep color BD on my OLED.

Odds are better you won't get the "we don't support non-LG peripherals" BS from LG support. They're the absolute worst support I've ever experienced, so taking that (worthless) argument away from them could help get resolution if you have a problem.

I'm would really know if it is possible with this player to convert HDR->SDR with keeping BT2020 intact.... This would help me a lot with my Epson LS10000... I'm also looking at the Sony UHD Player also.... But it looks like the Sony doesn't do that